Ahmed Shah Massoud

 

The Tajik are the second largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.  Concentrated primarily in Northern, Northeastern and Western Afghanistan, they are considered Afghanistan's elite. As a result of their accumulated wealth and generally higher levels of education, they wield significant political influence within the country. The Tajik, however, have only ruled Afghanistan briefly, the short rule of Bacha Saqqao in 1928, and the term of Burhanuddin Rabbani as President of The Islamic State of Afghanistan from 1992-1996 until he was ousted by the Taliban.

Physically of Mediterranean sub-stock, the Tajik are mostly Sunni Muslims, and speak various dialects of Dari, an Iranian language. They're not organized by tribe, but instead use the name of the valley or region where they live. Unlike the Pashtun, they don't have defined social structures like the Pushtanwali or Jirga, because their loyalties center on their families and villages. The Tajik are predominantly mountain farmers and herdsmen, noted for producing fruits and nuts acknowledged as the finest in the Afghanistan.

 The most famous Tajik is Ahmad Shah Massoud, a Mujahedeen (more about the Mujahedeen later) who led the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. Considered the greatest Afghan resistance fighter during the Soviet occupation, Massoud was murdered by Osama Bin Laden's assassins on the eve of the 9/11 attacks. Posing as photojournalists seeking an interview,  suicide bombers killed Massoud on September 9, 2001. Bin Laden apparently had Massoud eliminated because he would have been a natural US ally in any attempt to topple the Taliban regime.